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Heads up, folks: all of Afrodisiaca is available online "somewhere". You know where to look.

-On first spin, it's a mighty listen. Perhaps I'm just listening a little to light, but there's a strong sense of the "Dutch sound" here (Breuker is on the record), and there are moments where I might mistake this for a Kollektief record. I might chalk it up to a shared sense of wild eclecticism, though; I always knew that Tchicai had a sense for stylistic diversity, but the sheer variety of styles on display here is dizzying. This one is epic, no doubt.

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i see that the review for aaj ripped the dipp regarding frank wright's newish "unity" release.

i really like it. for some reason the method by which the group is improvising really makes sense to me. some of it is a bit much, but it all seems to be in good spirits.

someone on this board, probably ubu or DD, was saying a long time ago how they do not like bobby few. i agree he spews out too many notes per minute. it seems like his way of attacking the free thing was/is? to play very busy. sometimes it does work and he sounds good on this one, i think.

do others agree with the aaj guy? the allmusic guide guy seems to like it better.

is chuck really going to reissue "saga of the outlaws"? i hope you will, chuck. it is great.

a mention should be made for the boykins/reid rhythm section. not heard enough-but one of my favorites!

i just got a sketchy downtownmusicgallery CD of "the black arc" (ark?) and i think it is great. arthur doyle works in this context for me.

downtownmusicgallery also had another noah howard/frank wright america album-space dimension, maybe? how is that one? they also did up scorpio, which i have to pick up. that's a good one.

Yeah, that was me commenting on Bobby Few overplaying. I am listening to his solo "Continental Jazz Express" (on Boxholder) to refresh my memory, and, well, my impression has not changed much - there is a lot of rather cheesy impressionistic 100-notes-per second up-and-down noodling runs. Pretty unfocused.

Gotta relisten to those Center of the World (Wright, Few, Silva, Ali) recordings on Fractal - haven't listened to them for a few years now. I remember when I was living an Italy I once listened to Center in World disc late at night (2 or 3 AM) with windows open and the music blasting out. I then heard some noice outside, and when I look outside I see a young Italian drogato standing on the street right under my window, looking at the sky with a expression of horror on his face. I don't know how long the guy had been there. I turned the music off - didn't want him to have a cardiac arrest right there.

As for the "unofficial" releases of OOP stuff: I will be most happy to buy them as legit releases. As long as they are not available as such, I will be buying these unothorized copies.

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You've heard him with Lacy, tho, right? It's a pretty strong 180 from a lot of Few's earlier work (due in part, perhaps, to the complexity of Lacy's arrangements), but I would under no conditions call that "overplaying". At the same time, I think the Wright material might demand the florid, "impressionistic" approach, but then I'd have to hear the Wright quartet with a different pianist (which I have not).

...(and on the other thing) I said it before and I'll say it again: boycott.

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Heads up, folks: all of Afrodisiaca is available online "somewhere". You know where to look.

-On first spin, it's a mighty listen. Perhaps I'm just listening a little to light, but there's a strong sense of the "Dutch sound" here (Breuker is on the record), and there are moments where I might mistake this for a Kollektief record. I might chalk it up to a shared sense of wild eclecticism, though; I always knew that Tchicai had a sense for stylistic diversity, but the sheer variety of styles on display here is dizzying. This one is epic, no doubt.

I thought that at one point there was a Japanese CD of this.

I generally have got the most mileage out of the title track, by Hugh Steinmetz, but side two is also pretty great. "Afrodisiaca" in itself is a mind-fuck. Hopefully Tchicai is able to salvage the tapes of CND jamming with MEV in the late '60s... now THAT has got to be insane!

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I heard a needle drop "review copy" of "Other Afternoons" on the way to work - first time I heard this album, and WOW it rocks! Lyons is one of the true masters, his command of the alto is totally stunning, I'm more and more impressed by his playing! Will have to look for his albums eventually (I have "Jump Up" and the box so far, plus lots of stuff with Cecil, of course).

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Guest the mommy

yeah i have been listening to the cyrille/maono black saints a lot recently.

what happened to nick degeronimo? he's pretty decent and i have not heard of him in other contexts.

cyrille really made "new africa" for me, as far as BYGs go.

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Yeah, he swings, but re: the Moncur, there were four to five other cats who made that LP!

The Cyrille-Lyons duo, Something in Return, is a fine one as well. The Ayler box is great, but for sure Lyons benefitted from good recording situations, which are sorely lacking on the box (and some of the Hat Hut material).

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Don't know about what happened to DeGeronimo, but this popped up:

http://mysite.verizon.net/rutherford.ll/hi...stats/index.htm

Do a "find" for his name--Lions, 1961. Was he on the Rutherford Little League roster? (it's an obscure name, so...)

re: New Africa. The key track for me on that one is "When"; it's where the contrasts between the players are most pronounced. The "hand-off" between Mitchell and Shepp is amazing. Mitchell isn't reaching for those florid, explosive runs--he leans on the melody, waltzes with it--there's a tremendous push-pull tension within his lines, and the sheer force of those phrases is enough to make the listener pop. Then comes Shepp, who is flat-out, apeshit nuts... starts out with that bubbling, seething tone of his, then BOOM--all the tension that had accumulated from the Mitchell solo just comes pouring out in this tough, beautiful altissimo. What's really great is that the rhythm players feel it, too--Cyrille just unloads all this energy on the front line (that snare work is spectacular), and then it cools... they all made New Africa, and that's why I listen to this music...

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Another note (as the regulars on this section would probably appreciate it): who here has heard/picked up the reissue of Gwigwi Mrwebi's Mbaqanga Songs? It's post-Blue Notes, pre-BoB material (with early versions of some BoB tunes), but the points of reference here are a little oblique... it might fit in with some of Masakela's work (the post-Jazz Epistle scene), as it is certainly along the lines of afro-pop--but the energy level here is a lot closer to Pukwana's Spear albums. It's a beautiful set that always sits just this side of tipping out...

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re: New Africa. The key track for me on that one is "When"; it's where the contrasts between the players are most pronounced. The "hand-off" between Mitchell and Shepp is amazing. Mitchell isn't reaching for those florid, explosive runs--he leans on the melody, waltzes with it--there's a tremendous push-pull tension within his lines, and the sheer force of those phrases is enough to make the listener pop. Then comes Shepp, who is flat-out, apeshit nuts... starts out with that bubbling, seething tone of his, then BOOM--all the tension that had accumulated from the Mitchell solo just comes pouring out in this tough, beautiful altissimo. What's really great is that the rhythm players feel it, too--Cyrille just unloads all this energy on the front line (that snare work is spectacular), and then it cools... they all made New Africa, and that's why I listen to this music...

I LOVE THAT TUNE!!!

Best one on the album, for sure, and for all the reasons you put so well...

Don't know Mrwebi, sounds like it would be up my alley though.

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re: New Africa. The key track for me on that one is "When"; it's where the contrasts between the players are most pronounced. The "hand-off" between Mitchell and Shepp is amazing. Mitchell isn't reaching for those florid, explosive runs--he leans on the melody, waltzes with it--there's a tremendous push-pull tension within his lines, and the sheer force of those phrases is enough to make the listener pop. Then comes Shepp, who is flat-out, apeshit nuts... starts out with that bubbling, seething tone of his, then BOOM--all the tension that had accumulated from the Mitchell solo just comes pouring out in this tough, beautiful altissimo. What's really great is that the rhythm players feel it, too--Cyrille just unloads all this energy on the front line (that snare work is spectacular), and then it cools... they all made New Africa, and that's why I listen to this music...

I LOVE THAT TUNE!!!

Best one on the album, for sure, and for all the reasons you put so well...

Don't know Mrwebi, sounds like it would be up my alley though.

My favorite track as well (I don't like the rest of the album that much, frankly), and some of the best solos of Mitchell and Shepp I've heard.
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Assume you have all heard the new one on Capri? Excellent stuff, with Cyrille, Billy Harper and sundry others...

I haven't. How's Moncur's playing on that?? I saw him last fall w/ Khan Jamal and Yahya Abdul-Majid. It was not the best show. He hardly played at all and when he did it was barely audible. And what was audible wasn't really adding all that much to the preformance. It seemed like the other two were trying to cover for him.

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He has had some mouth problems which do limit his playing somewhat. Still, that disc is fine and he sounds good. I recommend it highly.

Moncur is about to turn 70. Can't go on at the highest level forever. I liked his work on the 'Lee Morgan' Blue Note album in the early 70's.

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He has had some mouth problems which do limit his playing somewhat. Still, that disc is fine and he sounds good. I recommend it highly.

Being a tremendous Moncur fan, I was overwhelmingly happy hearing just how "together" the Capri set was. Truth be told, the sidemen contributions are tremendous--but Moncur's beautiful sound, that cerebral, somewhat eldritch psychology, is all over the thing. I second C's recommendation...

So brownie--is Grachan simply a featured artist in this film (encompassing, for example, many of his peers), or is this joint generally centered on him?

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